I'll be headed to Sun Prairie this evening to watch the Kettle Moraine football team in the first round of WIAA playoffs. Local teams like Arrowhead (at home against Manitowoc), Pewaukee (at home against Whitefish Bay), Mukwonago (at Middleton), Hamilton (at DeForest) and Lake Country Lutheran (at Potosi) are also in action this evening, which begins the real awesome portion of the season.
I wrote a column earlier this year recalling my favorite game ever covered -- the Arrowhead Level 3 game against Marquette last fall. At the time, I chronicled the game in a blow-by-blow format for another blog, and I want to share that with you here. It was the first game I covered as sports director of Lake Country Publications -- the second would be Arrowhead's state title victory in Madison.
Hopefully this will whet your whistle for the postseason.
I was somewhat cheering for this new team, since it could mark a return to the state championship games in two weekends -- an experience I took in last year as well when one of my old teams made the state finals. There were moments when I was sure that team would lose, moments I was sure they would win, and two overtimes worth of incredible football. I haven't seen a ton of games, but I am confident that for many years, this will be the best game that I've ever seen.
1. The atmosphere. There were at least 6,000 people at the game, standing three deep along parts of the stadium that offered visibility to the field. Some were even standing a few yards away on an elevated knoll. I was on the sidelines with my media credential, watching the game from that vantage point for the first time. It was an incredible, incredible view.
2. The teams. Hartland Arrowhead is a state powerhouse to be sure, but they also have a streak of five straight appearances in the state title game without a championship. They did win three state crowns prior to the streak, but they're still thirsty for more after many bridesmaid finishes. Milwaukee Marquette is a sports empire, an all-boys school in Milwaukee that often boasts some of the best sports teams in the state. Needless to say, the teams had talent on both sides, and it was being billed as a game with state-title sentiment.
3. The setup. But despite Arrowhead's home field advantage, they were facing a 21-10 deficit with under 10 seconds to play in the third quarter. Marquette's three-headed monster of a running game had given the Hilltoppers a big lead, and Arrowhead found itself in desperate measures.
4. The bomb. Back the Warhawks came, with a 77-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the third quarter to immediately swing momentum back in Arrowhead's corner. It was a perfect pass, a perfect route and a perfect play that had the place going wild.
5. Arrowhead seizes control. The first possession of the fourth quarter was a rocky one for Marquette, with Arrowhead using their new burst of momentum to bury the Hilltoppers on 3-and-out. Given excellent field position on the Marquette 40, Arrowhead methodically worked its way down the field and scored to take a 24-21 lead, with three minutes having passed off the clock since it faced a 21-10 deficit. It was a swift swing.
6. Marquette stages a drive. There were nine minutes left in the game, but I was still surprised that Marquette had the muster to get the ball back down the field. They scored on an incredible drive, with the quarterback eluding a pass rush on 3rd-and-11 to complete a sideline pass deep in Marquette territory to prolong the drive at one point. They converted two more third downs before a touchdown pass to the tight end, re-claiming the lead. There were 2 minutes, 35 seconds on the clock, and Arrowhead faced a 28-24 trail.
7. The second-loudest roar of the day. With very little time to make something happen, Arrowhead scored on a 33-yard touchdown strike to an outstretched receiver down the sideline, a perfect pass that gave Arrowhead the 31-28 lead with 55 seconds left on the clock. It was ridiculous. After the turn of events, Arrowhead was going to win after all, right?
8. The kickoff and the kick. A squib kick was picked up inside the 5 by Marquette, fumbled for a moment, picked up and somehow returned to the Marquette 37. In a desperate series of passing plays, Marquette found its way down the field, but had only 2 seconds left and decided to attempt a game-tying field goal from 42 yards. I'm sure you can imagine that since a 12-yarder is often a challenge for a high school kid, a 42-yarder was something impossible for most. But this kid drilled it as time expired, part of an excellent day for both teams in the kicking department. We had overtime.
9. First overtime. Ball on the 10, one set of downs. Arrowhead scores and converts a point after, and Marquette needs just two plays to do the same. On a day when defense has suddenly been a difficult proposition against the two powerful offenses, it didn't appear that anyone was going to stop either team. It was 38-38, and Marquette took the ball first in the second overtime. Arrowhead stopped them, however, and a field goal gave the Hilltoppers a 41-38 lead.
10. Finish. On the first official play of Arrowhead's sequence, they fumbled ... and recovered it. That could have ended the game right there, but instead in ended two plays later. A rush to the 5-yard line made it 3rd-and-5, and the quarterback plowed into the end zone despite having virtually no room to run. Needless to say, the crowd went bananas. Incredible game, with Arrowhead winning a 44-41 decision. Can't wait for the state semis next week.